


Move together

by Vaniwa



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-04-06
Packaged: 2018-05-29 17:38:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6385882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vaniwa/pseuds/Vaniwa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ava met Rick's group after they saved her from a walker. Ever since, she has been curious about a certain redneck. Was he truly that careless as he came off? But when she does grow closer to him, will he be able to maintain whatever they have? Is that truly what Daryl Dixon wants, or even can do? Care and love for a woman? And what if he can't? [DarylxOC]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meeting the group

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing except my mistakes. Slight warning: I used sentences from the show, just to give conversations a little more meaning instead of having to summarize all of it. But, since it's from beginning season 2, I doubt it's really annoying. It, after all, has been a while since most of us have watched that season, most likely. But if it does bother you, you have a chance to leave now. If not, welcome on board!

Ava cursed silently as she tried to outrun the walker behind her. Not that she got very far. The only thing she could do was crouch low so it couldn't easily get a hold on her and run in circles around it to confuse it a bit. 

It was at times like these that she really hated herself for not getting into one of the abandoned houses to grab herself a knife from one of the kitchen's. Or anything sharp enough to defend herself with. 

Most of the times she would just try to outrun them, or grab a rock or anything in the hope that would be enough to kill them. More often than not she'd usually miss when she'd throw it, though. But right now there was nothing she had to defend herself with, and even though from the looks of it he seemed to have fed not long ago, the walker still looked really hungry as he desperately tried to bite out to her.

The sudden appearance of a man in a white shirt and curly brown hair got her attention, taking her by surprise and causing her to trip over her own feet. Cursing profusely, she watched in fear as the walker was about to crouch down, ready to take a bite out of her.

The man whistled, catching the attention from the walker who roared loudly at the man. Then a sudden arrow shot through its head, and Ava wheeled around to find a man lowering his crossbow. Hearing the crushing of leaves, she turned to look back at the man approaching her, outstretching a hand as he pulled her up. 

“Thank you.” She breathed out as she turned a bit so she could have a look at both men. “What's your name?” The curly haired man asked and Ava hesitated, wondering if she should tell him. Then she lightly chuckled at herself. Was she honestly going to worry about giving him her name? What was he going to do? Look her up on Facebook? 

“I'm Ava. Ava Carter.” Her British accent slipped out, obviously taking the two men by surprise as the curly haired man raised his eyebrows. “I'm Rick, this is Daryl.” He introduced himself, pointing at the man besides him as he introduced the other. Ava inclined her head at the man with the crossbow, acknowledging his presence. 

“You're not from around here, are you?” Rick asked and Ava shook his head, “Came here as an exchange student a year ago. I'm originally from England, as you might have guessed.” Rick nodded in acknowledgment. 

“You don't happen to have seen a little girl wanderin' around, have ya?” The man named Daryl spoke up and Ava shook her head, not having seen any human being since the apocalypse broke out. Daryl sighed in frustration and pulled the arrow out of the walkers head. “Sophia!” He yelled, but it remained completely silent.

Ava watched as Rick pulled out a set of gloves and crouched down next to the walker, searching for something near his hands. “What are you looking for?” Daryl asked, taking her words right out of her mouth as she was wondering the exact same thing.

“Skin under the fingernails.” Rick replied and Daryl leaned forward, looking with the man for any traces of what she assumed the girl Sophia they were talking about. “When did you lose her?” Ava piped up, watching as Rick turned the walker's head and cracked its mouth open.

“Not long ago.” Rick replied and Ava, too, leaned slightly forward to get a better look at the walker. “It fed recently.” Rick said, taking a piece of flesh out of the walker's mouth. “There's flesh caught in its teeth.” Ava scrunched her nose in disgust, watching the slightly chewed on piece of flesh.

“Yeah, what kind of flesh?” Daryl asked and Ava observed the man, watching his sleeveless blouse at which he seemed to have cut the sleeves off himself. His face was covered in a mixture of dirt and sweat, and his overall look stood out greatly compared to Rick. 

Yet, it somehow really appealed to her. Not that it surprised her much, after all, she had always kinda been a sucker for the bad boy kind of look, where they dressed so careless yet carried themselves with such authority. Yeah, Daryl absolutely didn't seem like the guy to mess with. But that's what she liked the most about him.

That was just appearance wise, though. For all she knew his character would be trashy and bad. Perhaps he was all full of himself – his authority vibe he gave off having turned into confidence. Yeah, that could honestly be such a turn off when boys would be too confident and too full of themselves. 

Sure, confidence was great, but too much of a good thing never came out well. “Only one way to know for sure.” Rick's voice brought her back to the present moment, and she watched as he ribbed the walker's shirt open and pulled out a knife.

“Here, I'll do it.” Daryl laid his hand on Rick's shoulder and then positioned himself above the walker, taking his own knife from his belt. “How many kills you skin and gut in your life? Anyway, mine is sharper.” 

Ava groaned as Daryl grabbed the knife with two hands. “Wait, you're not actually going to do what I think you will do, right?” Daryl looked at her, his eyes looking her over once before shaking his head with a scoff. “You don't have to watch, ya know.” And with that he slammed his knife into the stomach of the walker with a loud grunt, tearing the skin slowly as he moved the knife downwards.

Feeling herself getting sick as she watched the organs slowly coming into display with every cut he made, she took up his advice as she looked up at the sky, trying to control the sickness she felt. Hearing his heavy panting die out, she figured he must be done and so she looked down again, only to have him go at it once more to cut through another layer of skin.

Ava wheeled around as she nearly threw up, controlling her body just in time as she listened to the disgusting sound of flesh ripping open, the smell of a dead body hitting her nostrils stronger than when the walker was still alive, worsening the nausea she felt. 

Daryl panted heavily as the cutting stopped, letting out a deep breath. “Now comes the bad part.” Ava whimpered as she shut her eyes, which was highly unnecessary for she was already facing the other way, but for some reason it made her believe that if she couldn't see anything, it wouldn't be so bad. 

A lot of groaning and panting came from Daryl, wet sounds of organs being pushed to all kind of sides joining in. Even Rick seemed to have serious trouble controlling himself as he groaned loudly in disgust, a soft snapping sound of whatever organ he was pulling out hitting her ears.

“Yeah, Hoss had a big meal not long ago.” Ava heard Daryl say, his voice sounding breathless from all the cutting and fumbling around he had to do. “I feel it in there.” A gagging sound escaped her lips as she brought a hand to her mouth, willing herself not to throw up. 

“Here's the gut bag. I got this.” Rick said and Ava opened her eyes, figuring the worst part must be over by now. But just out of precaution, she remained rooted to where she stood, not wanting to turn around to watch whatever might come out of the gut bag. 

A few cutting sounds filled her ears again, but it didn't sound as bad as when the entire body got cut open. A lot of groaning filled her ears, however. The most from Rick, which she could more than understand. 

“This gross bastard had himself a woodchuck for lunch.” Daryl said and Ava wondered how he knew, figuring it must look rather undetectable after it had digested. But she wasn't really feeling like checking it out for herself, and so she just decided to take his word for it.

“At least we know.” Rick said and as she heard some moving sounds behind her, she took it as a sign they went to stand back up. Taking this as her cue to turn around, she went to face the men again but regretted her choice immediately upon seeing the organs of the walkers spread all out over the ground.

Turning her head to the right side, she leaned forward and unable to help herself, she threw up whatever kind of empty contents where in her stomach. No kidding, there truly wasn't anything in there. It therefore wasn't that much of a surprise that she mainly threw up some saliva. 

“At least we know.” Daryl agreed and Ava wiped her mouth clean with the back of her hand as she looked into Daryl's already staring eyes, not seeming much affected by her throwing up. Not that she really expected him to. After all, having cut open a dead body must have outweighed the sight of some saliva coming out of another person's body. 

“Are you on your own?” Rick asked as he made to stand up again, and Ava gladly adverted her eyes from the ground to the man's eyes. “Yeah, it's been just me since the beginning.” The man looked her over once, his eyes searching, but seeming to fail whatever he tried to find. “No weapons?” He asked and Ava nodded with a sigh. “How did you survive out here so long, woman?” Daryl asked, and only now did she really notice his Southern accent. Sure, she heard the dialect slipping in between words, but she had been a little preoccupied by the dead walker getting cut open to take notice of it.

Ava shrugged, “Guess I've been lucky.” She said honestly, truly having been lucky indeed. It had been a close call a couple of times. After all, there's only so many times you can successfully outrun a group of walkers. At some point you'll walk into a dead end or get into any other obstacles. 

“We have a group up the highway, if you're willing you can join. It's not safe out here on your own.” Rick proposed but Daryl immediately jumped in. “Are you crazy? We don't even know this girl.” Ava chuckled, “What do you think I'll do? Slit your throats with my imaginary knife?” Daryl shook his head, clearly unamused. “Can always disarm one of us, take first chance you get to put us down.” 

“And then what? Rick's right. It isn't safe out here, especially not on your own. I've been lucky so far, but my luck is bound to run out some time. And so is my energy, might I add. I barely sleep. Last I slept was two days ago, only took a few minutes nap to keep me going.” Ava stopped talking as she realized she was letting out too much unnecessary details. 

“Anyway, my point is, there's no use for me to see you all dead.” Ava concluded and tightened the dark green jacket that was wrapped around her waist. “It's up to you to believe that or not.” She watched as Daryl held up his hands, looking at Rick. “It's your call, man.” 

Rick nodded and then let a minor smile tug on his lips. “Welcome, then.” Ava returned the smile, a bit brighter than his as she was glad to finally not have to take these walkers on on her own any longer. 

With that, they got on the move again and Ava trailed behind, letting the two men walk in front of her and lead her to wherever they were staying at, quietly talking to each other about God knows what. They mentioned a highway before, but she wasn't familiar enough with the area to exactly know where she'd have to go to find it. 

Then slowly the forest thinned out, and in the slight distance she could make out the highway. It shocked her momentarily to see the long line of cars. Some were turned upside down, others were just ripped open. Not in a long while had she seen something that looked so dead. Hell, it even caused shivers to run down her spine. 

Rick was indeed telling the truth as she watched a couple of people gathered around each other, seeming to be in a conversation before they got spotted. “You didn't find her?” A woman with short grey hair asked, tears welling up in her eyes. Taking this as Sophia's mother, she lowered her gaze to the ground as her heart went out for the woman. She couldn't even begin to imagine what it must be like to lose your child in the messed up world they were living in now.

“Her trail went cold.” Rick said, his voice determined as he went on. “We'll pick it up again at first light.” The woman shook her head, bringing her arms up in front of her, as if trying to hold herself together. “You can't leave my daughter out there on her own to spend the night alone in the woods.” 

The rest of the group came walking forwards, joining their conversation. Ava, however, remained slightly behind, at least a foot behind Daryl as she allowed the rest to have a conversation without her interrupting it. “Out in the dark's no good.” Daryl said.

“We'd just be tripping over ourselves. More people get lost.” Ava watched him clutch to his crossbow, but averted her eyes to the woman once more as she hopelessly spoke. “But she's 12. She can't be out there on her own.” 

“You didn't find anything?” The woman tried again, and Rick was trying his hardest to calm her down. “I know this is hard. But I'm asking you not to panic. We know she was out there.” Her eyes glided over to Daryl's back as he spoke. “And we tracked her for a while.” Both were trying to stay calm and get the woman to calm down as well, but it didn't seem to really pay off.

A woman with brown hair that reached to around shoulder length let her hands fall on the grey haired woman's shoulders as in a comforting manner. “We have to make this an organized effort.” Rick spoke to the group. “Daryl knows the woods better than anybody. I've asked him to oversee this.” So that was what they had been talking about on their way back. 

“Is that blood?” The grey haired woman suddenly asked as she turned to look at Daryl, panic rising in her voice. “We took down a walker.” Rick said, which seemed to make the woman ever more worried. “Walker? Oh my God.” 

“There was no sign it was ever anywhere near Sophia.” Rick went on and a woman with blonde hair spoke up, seeming highly distrustful of his words. “How can you know that?” 

The two men looked at each other hesitantly, and if it wasn't for the serious circumstances, Ava would have totally laughed as Daryl's words left his mouth and the entire group cringed in disgust. They had no idea how bad it actually was. “We cut the son of a bitch open, made sure.” He had explained. 

“Oh God.” The grey haired woman went to sit down on the guardrail as she processed all that had been said. The brown haired woman sat down besides her, laying a hand on her back. “How could you just leave her out there to begin with?” The grey haired woman accused, looking at Rick.

Ava raised her eyebrows, taken aback by the comment. Now, she didn't know exactly how the girl got lost, but judging the way Rick had so desperately been trying to find the girl, she knew it mustn't have been his fault. 

“How could you just leave her?” The woman started to tear up once more, and Ava turned to Rick as he began to explain. Wanting to hear the story herself, to try and make sense of the tiny pieces of information she had heard so far, she focused all her attention on him. “Those two walkers were on us. I had to draw them off. It was her best chance.” 

Another man joined in, slightly taller than Rick but had the same brown hair. “Sounds like he didn't have a choice, Carol.” The brown haired woman laid her hands on the grey haired woman's shoulder in support as she began to breathe heavily. “How was she supposed to find her way back on her own?” 

“She's just a child. She's just a child.” The woman hopelessly cried. Rick went down to his knees, seeming seriously honest about his concern for both the mother and the child. “It was my only option. The only choice I could make.” 

“I'm sure nobody doubts that.” The other man from before spoke up, having seated himself on the guardrail besides the rest. “My little girl got left in the woods.” The grey haired woman cried. Rick nodded sadly and then turned to walk away. 

Ava felt unsure of what to do as Daryl, too, left her side. Watching the blonde haired woman move forward to comfort the crying woman as well, she just kind of stood there trying to make as less sound as possible as to not give her presence away.

Yet, even though she kept as quiet as she could, she finally seemed to get noticed by an older man with a fishing hat. “And who are you?” All heads suddenly turned to her, and she awkwardly cleared her throat. Normally she wasn't the socially awkward type, but she wasn't all that great with emotional situations, and hated to interrupt them as well. 

“I'm Ava. I came across your men in the woods. They saved my life.” She spoke loud enough for them to hear, but also slightly mumbled in the process, making it more difficult for the rest to hear her with her British accent. 

“I'm sorry about your girl.” Ava said, turning to the crying woman who nodded in response. “Rick let you tag along?” The brown haired woman spoke and Ava nodded, slightly stepping forward so she could have a better conversation with them. “I see an introduction is in order, then.” The man with the fishing hat said with a slight smile and pointed at the man sitting on the guardrail. “That's Shane,” he then pointed at the three women next to Shane. The blonde one, the grey one and the brown haired one. “Andrea, Carol and Lori.” 

Then he turned to a younger boy, “Carl.” He said and pointed at the last two men: a dark skinned one and an Asian guy. “T-Dog and Glenn.” Then the man focused his eyes back on her, “And I'm Dale.” The rest of the group remained silent, watching her a little mistrustfully. “Come on, I'll show you around in the RV.” 

Ava nodded, glad to get out of the rather awkward situation. Stepping over the guardrail, she followed him inside the RV and watched as he closed the door. He pointed her the location of the bathroom, and told her she could take a seat at the bench near a window. 

With that he left the RV again, and she allowed to let herself fall down on the seat. Knowing she was finally safe since months, she felt the tiredness kick into her body pretty bad, causing her eyes to flutter close against her own will. Resting her head against the glass, sleep took over her body without any single hesitation.


	2. Earning your place

“Hey, wake up.” Ava groaned as she slowly opened her eyes, watching the Asian guy named Glenn standing right in front of her. “We're setting up a search plan for Sophia.” He informed and Ava nodded, hissing as she removed her head from the glass, cursing as it slightly stuck to it due to the heat. 

Cracking her stiff neck, she rubbed away any sleep from her eyes as she followed him outside, removing the jacket from her waist as she put it on over the long sleeved grey shirt she was wearing, the shirt reaching just over her belly button, but still leaving a bit of skin between the shirt and her black jeans. 

Yeah, not the most comfortable clothes to move around in at times like these. And had she known that an apocalypse was going to break out, she truly would have second guessed her outfit the morning she left for college. 

Walking out of the RV, she saw that the group had already formed into a circle. Rick and Daryl were standing in the middle, and Rick was sprawling out a black leathered something which she couldn't quite see what it was. 

Taking in Rick's clothes, the sheriff badge on his chest, she assumed he must have been a cop right before all this mess started. In some way, she truly did find it fitting. “Everybody takes a weapon.” Rick said and Ava positioned herself next to Glenn, turning her head to Andrea as she spoke. “These aren't the kind of weapons we need.” 

“What about the guns?” She asked and Ava seemed to hear an underlying frustration, but she had no clue on what that could be about. “We've been over that.” Shane spoke up from behind Rick and Daryl. “Daryl, Rick and I are carrying. We can't have people popping off rounds every time a tree rustles.” 

“It's not the trees I'm worried about.” Andrea replied and Ava brought a hand up to her face, shielding her eyes from the sun. Shane went on to argue, and Ava let her attention drift as she didn't really feel like being any part of whatever frustrations Andrea might have.

Everyone grabbed a weapon, and Ava remained last, still unarmed. “You in with the search?” Rick asked as he turned to her, making all eyes land on her. “Absolutely. I want that little girl back just as much as you all do.” Ava replied, sincerely meaning it. She knew how difficult it was to survive out there on your own, let alone if you were just twelve. 

Rick gave her an approving nod and handed her the last weapon, which was a knife with a slightly longer blade. “The idea is to take the creek up about five miles, turn around and come back down the other side.” Daryl said as soon as Ava got her weapon, and she listened attentively to what he had to say, wanting make sure that she knew the plan.

“Chances are she'll be by the creek. It's her only land mark.” Once more he was grabbing onto his crossbow, as if he was ready to fire it at any given moment. “Stay quiet and stay sharp. Keep space between you but always stay within sight of each other.” Rick said to the group.

Ava stayed to the side, watching as some people wandered off to the a few last minute things. “So what's that to you? You barely know me.” The rising voice of Andrea caught her attention, and she curiously watched the interaction between her and Dale. 

“I know Amy's death devastated you.” Dale replied, and Ava wondered who Amy was. Was it Andrea's friend, sister or perhaps mother? “Keep her out of this.” Andrea replied, getting angrier by the second. “This is not about Amy. This is about us.” 

“And if I decided that I had nothing left to live for, who the hell are you to tell me otherwise?” Her raised voice caught more attention from the others, who were watching the interaction as well. “To force my hand like that?” 

“I saved your life.” Dale said, sounding completely confused by her behaviour. “No, Dale. I saved yours. Your forced that on me.” Ava had no idea what they were talking about, but whatever happened, it seemed to be weighing down on Andrea pretty bad. “I didn't want your blood on my hands and that is the only reason I left that building.” 

Ava was now truly confused on what they were talking about, and so she concentrated on her hair that fell in gentle waves down to her ribs. There were still some blonde highlights she had dyed not long before the apocalypse, the colour naturally blending with her own darker blonder hair. 

Their conversation seemed to stop and the group began to walk, Ava following shortly after, staying right behind Carol. Walking through the woods, she just followed the line in front of her, not knowing exactly where they were heading. 

The group slowed down after a while of walking, and Ava watched as Daryl held up his finger and pointed at the yellow tent in the distance. Everyone crouched down, and Shane went to move a bit more forward. “She could be in there.” 

“Could be a whole bunch of things in there.” Daryl replied and moved slightly up, his crossbow pointed in front of him as he crouched forward. The brown blouse from the day before had now been replaced by a grey one, yet the sleeves were once again cut off like the previous one. 

Daryl, Rick and Shane went to check it out as the others remained behind. Ava watched in curiosity as she observed Daryl's retreating back, how he seemed so serious on bringing the little girl back. Did that mean he cared about the girl? The more she observed him, the more she began to think that he wasn't only appearance wise interesting, but his character was also intriguing. She had a hard time trying to figure out who he was. And the kind of mystery he displayed, got her wanting for more. 

Rick called Carol over, and the group took a few steps forward as they listened to Carol calling out for Sophia. Crouched down, Daryl slowly opened the tent with a knife in his hand, ready to fight any danger that may lay behind it. 

The three men began to cough, and she guessed it had to do with a dead body. She encountered many more of those over the months, hidden away in enclosed spaces, the heat worsening the smell. “Daryl?” Carol called out twice, and everyone waited for a response.

“It ain't her.” He said as he got out, slightly breathless. “What's in there?” A voice behind her said, but she couldn't quite make out which of the two women had spoken. “Some guy. Did what Jenner said. Opted out.” Daryl replied and Ava frowned at the name. Jenner? Who the hell was he? 

“Ain't that what he called it?” Daryl said and a sudden church bell cut anyone off from answering. Without hesitation, the group began to ran in the direction of the sound. Reaching the place, Rick waited at the door until the other men caught up. 

Opening it, she could make out the three walkers sitting on the bench. Allowing the men to handle it, she remained by the door as she watched Shane and Rick take off. A sudden crossbow was pushed into her hands, and she saw Daryl holding up the weapon from before on the highway. 

Taking it as a hint to watch over his crossbow, she tried to carefully hold it without doing anything to it. She truly found it a typical action for her to accidentally fire an arrow or something. Not that it was loaded, but she'd still find a way.

The weight of the crossbow surprised her, it having seemed feather light as Daryl carried it around. Perhaps that explained his killer arms. Which she of course had totally not been checking out once or twice. 

After the walkers were killed, she handed him the crossbow back with a slight smile, which he as expected did not return. Walking back outside, she waited for the group to come back together and listened as Shane proposed the new plan, in which they would split into two groups.

“You're splitting us up. You sure?” Daryl asked and Shane nodded. With that, they followed Daryl back to where they came from, eventually following a slightly different path that led to a different place of the forest. 

Daryl went up front, leading them as Glenn was by his side, keeping his eyes open as he kept on scanning the area. Behind him were Andrea and Carol, then Lori and even further behind was Ava. She didn't know how to get comfortable in this group, especially not now when they were all frantically looking for Sophia. No one had a new friendship on their mind.

Somewhere in the walk a sudden gunshot was heard, but no one could locate the source. Shrugging it off, Daryl urged them on to keep walking, reminding them they still had enough ground to cover. Yet, not a couple of minutes later Lori stopped, forcing Ava to a halt as well, yet she made sure there was at least a foot space between them.

“You still worrying about it?” Andrea asked as the rest had noticed as well that Lori had stopped. “It was a gunshot.” Lori stated and Daryl took a few steps closer. “We all heard it.” He casually said, making Lori turn around. “Why one? Why just one gunshot?” She wondered aloud.

Daryl shrugged, “Maybe they took down a walker.” He suggested but Lori wasn't having it. “Please don't patronize me. You know Rick wouldn't risk a gunshot to put down one walker, or Shane. They'd do it quietly.” Ava had to admit that she did have a point. Shane and Rick didn't seem like the guys to just recklessly wave their guns around.

“Shouldn't they have caught up with us by now?” Carol asked and Daryl walked closer to the group with a sigh, “There's nothing we can do about it, anyway.” Letting his eyes glide around the area for any signs of walker, he continued. “Can't run around these woods chasing echoes.” 

“So what do we do?” Lori asked and Ava let out a small sigh, inaudible for the rest as she lightly kicked the ground with her black boots. Her outfit might not have been the most ideal for an apocalypse, but she was at least more than grateful she decided not to wear heels that day. 

“Same as we've been. Beat the bush for Sophia, work our way back to highway.” Daryl said and Ava averted her eyes to Andrea as she began to talk. “I'm sure they'll hook up with us back at the RV.” Andrea then turned to Carol, “I'm sorry for what you're going through. I know how you feel.” Carol smiled weakly in return, “I suppose you do. Thank you.” 

Carol's smile then fell and sadness replaced it. “The thought of her, out here by herself. It's the not knowing that's killing me.” She blinked away a few tears, “I just keep hoping and praying she doesn't wind up like Amy.” Then she reached out to Andrea, horrified. “Oh, God! That's the worst thing I ever said.” 

“We're all hoping and praying with you, for what it's worth.” Andrea said, obviously forcing a smile on her face as she said that. Ava still wondered who that Amy was, but was wise enough to not ask about it. Especially when the wound still seemed so fresh.

Daryl came walking over to the two women, opening his mouth in slight annoyance. “I'll tell ya what it's worth: not a damn thing. It's a waste of time, all this hopin' and prayin'.” 

“We're gonna locate that little girl. She's gonna be just fine.” Daryl assured Carol, yet a bit forced as she could see that so many emotions from people were starting to work on his nerves. 

“Am I the only one zen around here? Good Lord.” Daryl shook his head and walked away. Even though the situation wasn't funny at all, Ava still popped a grin as she started walking with the rest. Daryl had a way of coming through people – and even had the magic to do so with a little sass. 

Midway through the walk, Ava started to feel the heat getting to her. She was beyond weakened. For nearly two weeks now she had been going on without food, and it had been days since she last drank water. The sun wasn't helping much either, tiring her body out even more. 

Ava tried to fight her way through it, but eventually she couldn't do it anymore. Leaning against the nearby tree, she panted breathlessly as she wiped the sweat away from her forehead with the back of her shirt, taking her jacket off and wrapping it around her waist once more. 

The group didn't seem to notice her lack of presence until they were nearly out of sight. She had no idea who noticed it first, but they all came walking back as soon as they did. “You holding up okay?” Andrea asked and Ava tried to fake a smile, nodding as she pushed herself away from the tree. 

A sudden headache pounded hard in her head, and because of her minor break to rest, she was now feeling extremely light on her feet – causing her to sway gently. Grabbing the tree for support, she licked her dry lips and squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to swallow, feeling the burning from her dry throat. 

Lori seemed to have caught on quicker than the rest with what was going on and approached her whilst looking for something in her bag, eventually holding out a water bottle in front of her. “Take it.” She said and Ava hesitated for a second until she realized that she truly did need to stay hydrated or else she'd be in serious trouble.

Gulping some of the contents down, she felt relief wash through her body even though her throat was slightly protesting, not used to the lubricate feeling of the water. “For how long have you been without water?” 

Ava shrugged as she closed the bottle with the lid, handing the bottle back to her with a 'thank you'.   
“Three days now?” Carol's eyes widened greatly. “That could be lethal. You know you gotta stay hydrated, right?” Ava had to refrain herself from rolling her eyes. Of course she knew that. It just wasn't always easy to get it.

“Yeah, I do. But it's a bit hard to do so when there's no water around.” Ava replied, trying to sound as polite as she could, not wanting to give her the feeling that she was being attacked. “Speaking of taking care of yourself, how long has it been since you ate?” Lori asked.

“Two weeks. The dead are slowly starting to eat all the animals. And the ones that do survive, well, let's just say it's hard to grab those with your bare hands. Like birds for example. Trust me, I've tried.” She could hear Glenn snicker, and she knew it must be because of a mental image he had gotten. Not that she could blame him, after all, it must have been a humorous sight to see her jumping around after birds trying to catch them. 

A sudden rustling of leaves and the firing of an arrow caught all their attention. There, on the ground lay now a dead bird, the arrow sticking through its lifeless body. Without hesitation, Daryl pulled the arrow out and started cutting the bird open with his knife. 

When he was done, he beckoned her over. With a slight hesitation in her steps, she approached him and took the piece of meat he was handing her. “Ain't tellin' me you get freaked out by a dead bird.” Ava shook her head as she gratefully took the piece. “I'm kinda at the point of starvation where I can't care shit about what I put in my mouth.” 

And with that, she started chewing on the dry piece of meat. Sure, it tasted horrible, and it was nearly impossible to chew, but at least it was food – one that could give her the strength to carry on. Daryl cut some more loose from the bird and kept on handing it to her until there was nothing left. 

Wiping her bloodied fingers on her jeans, she smiled gratefully at him. “Thanks.” She said and he threw the remainders of the bird to the side. “Can't have anyone fallin' behind.” He casually said, shrugging her gratitude off. 

The group began walking again, and Ava was about to subtly move back to the entire end, but Glenn's voice stopped her from doing so. “Why didn't you tell us to wait?” He asked and Ava shrugged, watching Daryl's muscles in his arm flex whenever he moved them. “We need all the time we have. Besides, what could you care? It'd be one less mouth to feed.” Ava sounded really casual about it, but Glenn wasn't satisfied with her answer.

“Maybe, yeah. But we do care, you know. Otherwise we wouldn't have come back. You're one of us now. And we take care of our own.” Ava smiled slightly, a warm feeling erupting inside of her. It had been months since she encountered people, and she was more than grateful to have stumbled on such a reasonable group. 

But she was realistic as well. She knew that if they'd be in danger, and someone had to be left behind, it would be her. She might be one of them now, but she held no meaning to them. Not just yet. When time would come, she'd be left behind. 

“That's nice of you to say, Glenn. But we both know it's not true. I have yet to earn my place.” Ava spoke with a slight sigh. Watching the man in front of her, she noticed how his head was turned a little to the right, as if trying to listen better. But she just shrugged it off. Why would he care? He didn't even want her to join the group.

After a while, they eventually came to yet another stop and Ava hadn't gotten a chance to slip back. Glenn was keeping a close eye on her in concern, and the other two women had seemed to close in on them as well. 

“We'll lose the light before too long.” Daryl said as he faced the group. “I think we should call it.” Ava nodded in agreement, along with a few others. It would do no good to wander around the woods in the dark – that much she had experience with. 

“Let's head back.” Lori said and she could see Daryl nodding in agreement from beside her. “We'll pick it up again tomorrow?” Carol asked and Lori nodded, “Yeah, we'll find her tomorrow.” Daryl whistled as in a cue to keep on moving, and everyone slowly followed behind him, walking back the same way they came.

When they reached the place where they had taken their first break when they heard the gunshot, Ava had drifted off more to the back and next to Andrea. “How much farther?” Lori asked and Daryl replied. “Not much. Maybe a hundred yards as the crow flies.” They kept on moving with that.

“Too bad we're not crows.” Andrea replied exhaustedly, moving her way through the grass and over the many fallen branches. 

“As the crow flies, my ass.” Ava heard Andrea distantly say. Looking at the ground, she sighed in exhaustion as she watched one foot being placed in front of the other. Ava heard a sudden scream and when she looked up, she saw that she was exactly in the middle of the separated groups. 

To the left of her in the distance she could make out the group, and to the right in the distance she could make out Andrea with a walker right above her. Without any hesitation she ran towards her, grabbing the knife firmly into her hands as she approached the walker. 

Taking the fact that he had his back to her as an advantage, she stuck the knife right through the back of its skull, grunting heavily as she tried to get it back out. “Curse you.” She hissed angrily at the dead walker as she at last managed to pull it out. 

Just as she had retrieved the knife, the galloping of a horse caught her attention as the woman on it swung the dead walker against the head with her baseball bat, making the walker fall far from where Andrea lay on the ground. 

“Lori? Lori Grimes?” The woman asked, looking at both the women in turn. “I'm Lori.” A voice spoke, and as Ava turned around, she saw the others running towards them. “Rick sent me. You've got to come now.” The woman spoke urgently and Ava went to turn questionably to Lori. Did that mean that Rick and she were together? 

“What?” Lori asked confused. 

“There's been an accident. Carl's been shot.” The woman explained. Ava was by now rather certain that Rick and Lori were together. So Carl must be there son, then. “He's still alive but you've gotta come now.” 

“Rick needs you. Just come!” The woman urged her on and Lori was about to move forward but Daryl stopped her. “Whoa-whoa-whoa! We don't know this girl.” He said, trying to see reason with her. “You can't get on that horse.” Yet Lori didn't listen and immediately dropped her backpack and climbed on the horse.

“Rick said you had others on the highway, that big traffic snarl?” The woman asked and Glenn spoke up, “Uh-huh.” He confirmed and the woman went on. “Backtrack to Fairburn Road. Two miles down is our farm. You'll see the mailbox. Name's Greene.” 

Everyone in the group stared perplexed at the horse riding away with Lori, not quite sure what the hell to do. Ava helped Andrea up her feet and watched as she walked back to the rest. The sign of movement must have been a cue for Daryl as he started walking forwards, stopping momentarily beside her as he looked at the dead walker laying in the grass.

“I think ya just earned your place.” He said and with that he continued walking, leaving a curious Ava behind. She really didn't understand that man. One moment he didn't want her to join, and the next moment he's welcoming her to the group. He sure was a mystery she wanted to solve.


	3. The funeral

After an extremely exhausting walk back, they finally arrived back at the highway where Dale had questioned them about Carl and Lori. Not knowing where to go, she was about to find a place on one of the cars when Daryl whistled her over.

Pushing a bottle of water into her hands he spoke lowly. “A few sips ain't enough to get ya back on your feet.” Ava had no choice but to grab it, for else he would just drop it to the floor. But she didn't want to drink it. “I can't just drink all of this.” She said and he let out a frustrated sigh. 

“See that?” He pointed at a truck in the distance, which held enormous bottles inside. “Got plenty enough for all of us.” Daryl assured her and with one last sigh she brought the bottle to her lips, feeling her body embrace the contents gratefully as she swallowed it down. 

Not long after, they all came around each other as they discussed their plan on what to do. “We can't just leave.” Carol protested and Dale let out a sigh. “Carol, the group is split.” He said. “We're scattered and weak.” 

“What if she comes back and we're not here? It could happen.” Carol tried to reason and Andrea nodded in agreement. “If Sophia found her way back and we were gone, that would be awful.” 

“Okay. We gotta plan for this.” Daryl spoke up. “I say tomorrow morning is soon enough to pull up stakes. Give us a chance to rig a big sign, leave her some supplies.” Ava smiled slightly, now truly convinced that Daryl did care about the little girl. 

“I'll hold here tonight, stay with the RV.” He said and Dale joined in, “If the RV is staying, I am too.” Carol smiled gratefully at them. “Thank you. Thank you both.” Daryl inclined his head in acknowledgment. 

“I'm in.” Andrea said and everybody turned to look at Ava. As if they needed to ask. “Count me in.” Glenn piped up, “Well, if you're all staying then I'm-” but he was cut short by Dale. “Not you, Glenn. You're going. Take Carol's Cherokee.” 

“Me? Why is it always me?” Glenn protested, making Ava wonder what else he had been needing to before this. “You have to find this farm, reconnect with our people and see what's going on. But most important, you have to get T-Dog there.” Dale said.

“This is not an option. That cut has gone from bad to worse.” Dale went on and Ava turned to look at T-Dog, watching him standing slouched to the RV. He indeed didn't look very good. “He has a very serious blood infection. Get him to that farm. See if they have any antibiotics. Because if not, T-Dog will die, no joke.” 

Daryl went to move to his motorcycle, and Ava frowned as he came back with a sack full of medicine. “Keep your oily rags off my brother's motorcycle.” Daryl said as he threw the rag at Dale.

“Why'd you wait till now to say anything? Got my brother's stash.” Brother? Daryl had a brother? Judging from the people around, he didn't seem to be here. So where was he? Placing the sack on the bonnet of the car, he turned to search through it. 

“Crystal, X. Don't need that.” He mumbled as he looked through the other bottles. “Got some kick ass painkillers.” He said and threw it at Glenn. “Doxycycline.” Daryl said as he threw the bottle with pills at Dale. “Not the generic stuff neither. It's first class. Merle got the clap on occasion.” Ava raised her eyebrows at that. Lovely. 

Yet Daryl shrugged it off nonchalantly as he walked away and back to his motorcycle, placing the sack with the rest of the pills back. 

The group bid Glenn goodbye and the sun was slowly starting to set. Entering the RV, she gladly got out of the burning sun as she took the jacket off her waist, laying it down on the bench as she sat down. Rolling up the sleeves of her grey shirt, she slammed her head down on the little table as she let out a tiring sigh.

It was very tiring to survive on your own outside, but she didn't realize how tiring it could be as well in a group. The only thing that made it more bearable was knowing that everyone had each other's back. 

“Didn't get a chance to say thank you yet.” Andrea's voice suddenly spoke up and Ava lifted her head up, watching as Carol retreated to the bedroom and Daryl aimlessly leaned against the kitchen counter top. 

Looking up into the eyes of Andrea, she smiled briefly. “No need to thank me. Did what anyone would have done.” She shrugged and Andrea smiled lightly. “Yeah, but they weren't there at the time. You were and you saved me. So thank you.” Ava smiled and let it slide, knowing that Andrea just wanted to express her gratitude. There was no point in brushing that off.

Her eyes briefly glided over to the Daryl, and she watched as he inclined his head at her. For the first time since they met, she finally saw a neutral face. One that didn't look like she just killed his dog or something. 

With that, she leaned her head against the glass once more as she watched darkness fall over the streets. Hearing the clanging of metal, she watched as Andrea failingly tried to put the pieces of a gun together. 

As the night got darker, the sobbing of Carol intensified and in combination with Andrea's clanging of the metal, it withheld her from sleeping. Ava let out a deep sigh as she supported her head with her hand, looking down at the ground where Daryl lay with his hands behind his head. Apparently he couldn't sleep either.

Daryl got up with a groan and took the crossbow from Ava's side, where he had laid it down right before he went to lie on the ground a few hours ago. “I need my clip now.” Daryl said to Andrea, who reluctantly handed it over.

“Imma walk the road, look for the girl.” He informed and nodded his head at Carol, whose sobbing stopped. Taking one last look at Ava, he walked out of the RV. Not a second later Andrea got up as well and said she'd join.

Taking the silence as a relief to finally catch up with some much needed sleep, she allowed her eyes to droop and carry her into a slumber. However, with Daryl gone, as crazy as it might sound she felt like she was all alone again. Like she was completely unprotected. Even though Dale was up the RV looking out for any walkers.

Daryl just had that about him. The feeling of protection. It was because of his absence that she was now having a very light sleep, where she'd wake up from the tiniest sound. After a couple of tries she gave up. The interrupted sleep often left her even more tired than not sleeping at all, so it wasn't worth the useless tries.

It seemed to last ages before they finally made their return. But when Carol came storming in, all sobbing once more, she knew they had returned – and rather unsuccessfully so. Ava let out a deep sigh. Even though Daryl might now be back, she could still wave her goodbye to sleep if Carol kept on crying all night long.

It wasn't that she couldn't understand. Hell, she'd be crying herself all day if it was her child wandering around in times like these, but Ava was very keen on her sleep, and hated to have it interrupted. Especially when she was beyond exhausted. 

The RV door opened once more, and her eyes immediately landed on him. He looked her over once and then shook his head, “You look like shit.” He whispered and she raised her eyebrows at him. “Why, you sure are kind.” Ava scoffed and then looked him over, noticing how the dirt and sweat covered his entire body. “You don't look that great yourself either.” She commented and he shrugged carelessly. 

He put his crossbow back down next to her and waited for a second before he spoke. “You should get some sleep. Ain't gonna last out there lookin' like that.” Ava sighed, “If only I could. Kinda having trouble sleeping.” Daryl's eyes flew briefly to where Carol lay and then looked back at her, nodding understandingly. 

With a groan Daryl lay down once more on the ground, taking his previous position as he went to stare up at the ceiling once more. After remembering what her mother once said, that even though you might not be able to fall asleep, closing your eyes would still provide you rest, she closed her eyes and let the universe take her wherever the hell it wanted to. If it wanted her to sleep, she'd gladly accept that. If not, she'd just close her eyes and wait for morning to arrive.

And that's what it did. After Carol's sobbing died down, she had finally felt her body fall into a much needed sleep. And if it wasn't for Dale waking her up next morning, she was certain she could have slept a day longer for sure.

It hadn't even occurred to her that they had moved from the highway and to the farm until she groggily opened her eyes and got out of the RV, watching a bunch of people get out of the house. “How is he?” Dale asked and Lori smiled sadly, “He'll pull through. Thanks to Hershel and his people.” 

“And Shane. We'd have lost Carl if not for him.” Rick said, but there was something about the way they all carried themselves that told her there was more to it. More to why they were all acting a little tense. Ava's eyes drifted over to where Shane stood, seeming to have shaved off his hair as she quietly observed the scene.

The group went to hug each other, and Ava remained slightly back, just like Daryl as she didn't really feel like getting into physical contact with people she didn't know. Yes, she was more than glad that Carl was going to be okay, but she barely knew the boy.

“How'd it happen?” Dale asked and Rick sighed, “Hunting accident. That's all. Just a stupid accident.” The others that had come outside slowly started to retreat back in, and the man that seemed to be the owner of the farm named Hershel, told them they could set up their tents nearby. 

Ava, however, didn't have such a thing as a tent. Never had either, not even once since the apocalypse broke out. And so she mainly remained in the shadows, making herself unnoticed by the others as she watched them setting up their own tents. 

Hershel had explained that the man who shot Carl who was named Otis had died when retrieving medical supplies for the surgery, and that they'd be holding his funeral after they were done setting up their little camp.

It took them a while to get everything ready, a good hour at least, but she had managed to stay unnoticed by them all throughout the entire time, and was glad as well. She doubted that anyone would worry about it, and didn't want to seem like a bother either. It hadn't been the first time she slept on the ground, either. Doing it once more wouldn't hurt. When she'd get the opportunity, she'd go into town to look for a tent herself. 

The Greene family came out of the house, circling around the rocks that had been piled for Otis, and Hershel went to say his words. “Blessed be God, father of our lord Jesus Christ.” He read aloud from a book. “Praise be to him for the gift of our brother Otis, for his span of years, for his abundance of character; Otis, who gave his life to save a child's, now more than ever, our most precious asset.” 

“We thank you, God, for the peace he enjoys in your embrace. He died as he lived, in Grace.” Ava felt beyond out of place, not familiar with anyone around her. She only just met Rick's group, and she sure as hell didn't know the Greene family. Neither Otis nor Carl had any meaning to her, yet she remained silent, wanting to honour the dead properly, for it was rare nowadays to get an actual funeral.

Hershel asked Shane to share his final moments with Otis, and after some persuasion from the older blonde haired woman, he finally began to speak. However, his words got lost as she carefully observed his body language, the way his eyes swifted all over the place, not once looking anyone in the eye. How his fingers nervously fumbled with the side of his clothes. 

Ava glided her eyes around the group, and took in the sad expressions of the Greene family members. Rick's group looked sincerely sorry as well, but what caught her attention was how Daryl and Rick were both observing Shane with just as much distrust as she was. Perhaps she wasn't all that crazy.

When the funeral was over with, people started to retreat to their tents, the sun slowly setting. It was crazy how soon they were losing light already even though they barely did something that day. Then again, by the time she had woken up the sun was already high at the sky, indicating the middle of the day. With the preparations of setting up the tents and the funeral, she guessed that time did pass fast.

Making sure everyone was fast asleep, she went to lean against one of the trees near the others tents, wrapping her jacket around her shoulders as she clutched her knife in one hand as the other laid lazily in her lap. 

Ignoring the stinging pain from the wood pressing into her back, she closed her eyes and listened as the wind quietly passed over the field, not a single sound heard besides the occasional rustling of leaves, which got her jolting awake whenever she was close to falling asleep, her knife shooting up high, ready to attack any threats.


	4. Setting up the tent

“Girl.” The faint sound reached her ears, but it didn't seem to fully register. A light kick was felt against her leg, but her eyes remained closed. “Hey, woman.” The voice whispered a little louder, and when she felt yet another gentle kick against her leg, she jolted awake from her sleep. 

Opening her eyes, and quickly squinting as the early morning sun hit her face, she looked up to see the dark silhouette of who she assumed to be Daryl, judging by the crossbow he was carrying over his shoulder. “What?” She growled grumpily as she slowly got up, groaning as she stretched her body. Trees weren't the most comfortable objects to sleep against, that much was certain.

“Ya ain't tellin' me you've been sleepin' like that all night, have ya?” Daryl asked, his body closer to hers than she had ever been to him. The ruffled hair and the blue eyes staring her down were rather intimidating her, and so she took a careful step back. “If I tell you I wasn't, will you just let me sleep next time?” She asked with a sigh and he raised his eyebrows. 

“To hell I will.” He said and Ava sighed, walking over to the truck where a couple of people had circled around. “Been taking a nap already? It hasn't even been that long since we woke up.” Andrea asked as she neared them, and watched as Daryl took his place next to Shane. 

“The girl has been sleepin' there all night.” Daryl said, ignoring the threatening and pleading looks she had been sending him as soon as she noticed his mouth open. “You serious? Could've said something. There was still plenty enough space in the RV for you to sleep in.” Andrea said and Ava shrugged, “I'll go into town when I can, see if I can grab myself a tent.” 

“You crazy? It isn't safe out there. Especially not for someone like you.” Rick said and Ava raised her eyebrows at him, feeling rather insulted. “Someone like me? What's that supposed to mean? I've been doing just fine on my own till now. And I appreciate you taking me into your group, but I ain't your responsibility.” Ava said, her temper rising. 

“That's not what I meant. I'm sure you'll make it on your own, but there is no need to endanger yourself when we have plenty enough people to send with you. Like Glenn – he occasionally goes out on a supply run. And you becoming part of this group, made you my responsibility.” Rick's voice softened and Ava sighed, letting her features drop into a neutral state as she nodded at him.

A woman with short brown hair came walking up, sprawling a map out on the bonnet. “County survey map. Shows terrain and elevations.” The woman said and Rick leaned forward to it. “This is perfect. We can finally get this thing organized.” 

“We'll grid the whole area, start searching in teams.” Rick went on but Hershel disapproved of his participation. “Not you. Not today. You gave three units of blood. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out.” 

Then the man turned to Shane, “And your ankle. Push it now, you'll be laid up a month, no good to anybody.” Ava piped up, seeing this as her chance to help the group out a little. “I could be of some of use with that.” 

“Yeah, how's that so?” Shane asked and Ava nonchalantly shrugged, “I mentioned I'm an exchange student, right?” She looked at both Daryl and Rick for confirmation, who both nodded. “Came here to broaden my education of becoming a massage therapist. I was in my last year before hell broke loose. Kinda know everything I need to know.” 

Ava turned her gaze back to Shane, “If you'll let me, I can take care of your injury, relieve some of the pain and reduce any swelling. It'll speed up the healing process and will get you back on your feet in no time.” She proposed and Shane nodded, agreeing with her plan. “Sounds good. It'll get you patched up in no time.” Hershel agreed and Ava smiled lightly, glad to have something to do that day.

“Guess it's just me.” Daryl said and pointed at a place on the map, “I'm gonna head back to the creek, work my way from there.” Rick nodded, and Ava focused her eyes on Shane as he spoke up. “I can still be useful. I'll drive up to the interstate after Ava's done with me, see if Sophia wandered back.” 

“All right, tomorrow then. We'll start doing this right.” Rick said, and Ava observed the dark circles under his eyes, and she guessed that he mustn't have been sleeping much these past few days. “That means we can't have our people out there with just knives. They need the gun training we've been promising them.” Shane said and Ava slowly retreated from the people around the truck, figuring her part of participation had been dealt with.

Watching Glenn put up another tent, for Rick and Lori had been sleeping inside the day they arrived, she sheepishly walked over to him, returning the broad smile he gave her. “Anything I can help you with?” Glenn asked and Ava let out a deep sigh, hating to ask for favours. 

“Rick mentioned you usually go on supply runs, am I right?” Glenn nodded as he readjusted his cap. “I-” Ava groaned as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I still need a tent and was wondering if you want to make a run into town with me tomorrow, or something?” Ava hastened the words out of her mouth, speaking just so he would hear it, but would need a bit of time to process what she just said. 

Glenn's eyes widened as he looked at her. “What, you got no tent? Where did you sleep last night, then?” Ava shook her head. “Doesn't matter. Will you?” She sweetly asked and he sighed, nodding with a minor smile. “Yeah, of course. How about today?” 

“Sure, first got to treat Shane's ankle, though.” Glenn turned to look at her confused, fumbling with the tent he was trying to set up. “Treat Shane's ankle? How you planning on doing that?” Ava chuckled as she helped him holding up the wires so he could stick them into the ground. “I was a massage therapist student before this all happened.” She briefly explained and he muttered a quick 'thanks' as he now successfully pinned the tent to the ground.

“What did you use to be?” Ava asked curiously and he chuckled lightly, “A pizza delivery boy. Yeah, nothing interesting, really.” She chuckled in return, “Explains the supply runs, then.” He nodded in agreement, finishing the tent up. Watching Shane walk to the RV, she waved her goodbye to Glenn as she moved over to the man.

“You ready to start?” She asked and he nodded, readjusting his cap slightly to keep the sun out of his eyes. “Make yourself comfortable on the bench, then.” Ava said and followed him inside, waiting for him to sit down and take his shoe and sock off the bad foot. 

It was a little uncomfortable to treat him in such a small space, but she made it work as she crouched down to the ground, taking his foot gently into her lap as she started to work her hands around his ankle, careful not to press into any hurting areas, for that only would intensify the pain.

Thinking back to her classes, she tried to put everything she learned to use as she gently massaged the skin around it, moving it around in such a way that would allow the blood to flow easier, giving it a better possibility to take care of the swollen ankle. “So, what's your story?” Shane asked midway.

Looking up into his eyes carefully staring down at her, she nonchalantly shrugged. “There's not much to know about me. Grew up in a loving family in England. Got a little sister, Emily, she's currently thirteen years old.” Ava smiled briefly, remembering the games she once used to play with her sister. As well with all the quarrels they once used to have. They seemed so silly now – and she'd give anything to get those back.

“Went to Georgia when I was twenty as an exchange student, planning on finishing my education here. With many protests of my parents, though. They weren't all too thrilled to send their daughter across the world, but they also knew that this is what I wanted. They always respected my wishes, even though they didn't always agree with it.” Ava smiled sadly. Ever since the apocalypse started she hadn't allowed herself to think about her family. She needed to focus, keep her head in the game or else she'd end up dead. But to have the leisure to now dwell her thoughts to the ones she loved.. it took her everything to keep herself together.

“Next thing I know, a year later this mess broke out. Guess they were right to protest.” Ava chuckled lightly, focusing her eyes back on Shane. “What's your story?” She asked and moved a little up his leg, massaging his calves to loosen up the tensed muscles. Nothing good it would do to the healing process if his body had to take care of any other pains. 

Shane shrugged, “There's not much about me either. I used to be a cop with my best buddy Rick. Next thing I know he got shot and ended up in a coma. When the apocalypse broke out, it was I who had to take his family to safety.” Ava nodded, now understanding his concern for Carl a bit better. For months he had been taking care of the boy as if it was his own son, and she really admired his efforts. 

Finishing up the massage, he let out a relieved sigh as he chuckled. “My foot sure does feel feather light now.” Ava laughed as she shook her head. “Just make sure not to overuse it today. This might speed up the process, but it still needs resting.” Shane nodded and left the RV, meeting Andrea who was waiting outside. 

Walking out of the RV herself, she met Glenn and some others at the well, looking down in it as she tried to see what they were looking at. Seeing the soaked walker, she scrunched her nose in disgust as she listened to the others planning on taking it out – using Glenn as living bait. 

After some protesting from Glenn, he finally agreed and let himself be tied up with a rope for safety, everyone grabbing a hold of it as they slowly but steadily started to lower him down. She could feel the rope roughly rubbing against her hand, creating a burning sensation as she dug her feet into the ground, trying to keep herself in position as she pulled back on it. 

After an extremely close call when the hand pump unforeseeable got loose, causing the rope to fly out of their hands, and everyone desperately trying to reach out after it, they finally managed to pull him safely back up. 

Glenn, having cleverly tied the rope around the walker whilst he was trying not to get bit, allowed them to hoist the walker out of it with great difficulty. It wasn't particularly the lightest walker she had encountered so far. 

Ava groaned in tired frustration as the walker's body split in half, the bottom part landing back in the well with a loud splash as the upper part along with the fallen out organs were laying on the grass. All the effort to get the walker out neatly had just been wasted. 

Taking up Glenn's request to go to town now, they gladly accepted the horses the short brown haired woman, whose name she learned to be Maggie, brought them. She didn't need to tell them how to get to it, for Glenn and Maggie had apparently just taken a trip to it, having picked up some medicine and stuff when she had been helping Shane out. 

“Can I ask you some questions?” Ava asked as she held a firm grip on the reins, not feeling all too comfortable on a horse. She liked them from a distance, but they frightened her a bit up close. Honestly, she was more scared to get bitten by a horse than by a walker. Something told her that the force of a horse's jaw was stronger than a human one's. 

“Sure, go ahead.” Glenn said and Ava watched as a small town slowly came into few. “I've been catching things from conversations over these days, but I just can't seem to put all the pieces together. Mind helping me with that?” Glenn nodded at her and she let out a shaky breath, hating to pry into other people business's but also hating not to know what was going on when everyone around her did.

“Let's start easy. Rick and Lori, are they together?” Glenn nodded in confirmation, “Yeah, they're married.” He said and Ava nodded, satisfied that her suspicions were right. “So Carl is their son, right?” Glenn nodded and Ava hesitated as she wanted to ask her other questions.

“Andrea mentioned Amy.. was she a friend or something?” Glenn's face fell as he shook his head, “Amy was Andrea's sister. She got bitten as a smaller horde closed in on our camp near Atlanta.” Ava let her gaze fell down, remaining silent for a bit before she continued. “And this Jenner guy Daryl was talking about, who was he?” 

“He was a scientist at CDC, but the building blew up. Most of our group made it out just in time. We lost one member of our group, though. She wanted to die her way, and so she remained behind.” Ava nodded in understanding, figuring that's what Andrea had been talking about to Dale when she mentioned she had the opportunity to go her way. 

“And I heard something about Daryl having a brother? What's that all about?” Glenn chuckled lightly. “He does. Name's Merle. Tough asshole he is. Rick tied him to the rooftop when making a run into Atlanta, he cut off his own hand and no one has seen a sign of him ever since.” 

Ava averted her eyes back on the road, watching as the town neared and she briefly let her thoughts wander. She wondered how much those two were alike. And even better, what that Merle was like. Was he truly as bad as Glenn portrayed him to be? 

And if Rick and Lori were together, then how come there was such a tension between them and Shane? These were all questions she was longing to have answers to, but she also knew that right now was not the time to get them. 

Having reached the town, they got off their horses and made sure to tie them tightly and where they could still see them, in case a walker would approach. Glenn and Ava agreed on splitting up, him taking the right side of the town and she taking the left side to speed up the progress. 

After searching through three different shops, she finally managed to find one as she looked behind the shop counter, where it seemed to have fallen off a shelf. Waiting outside with the horses for Glenn to come out of a shop, she waved him over and rode back with him, a silence falling between them as he seemed to be in deep thought.

Panting, she wiped her hand over her forehead as she looked down at the pathetic mess that was laying on the ground. Deep chuckling came from behind, “Need a hand?” Turning around she met the smiling face of Dale, and she nodded gratefully. “I tried. I honestly did. But I've never been so great with all the camping stuff – let alone set up a tent.” Ava chuckled in reply and watched as Dale easily set up the tent for her, not even needing help once.

“You'll learn soon enough. We all had to at some point.” Ava nodded and smiled at him as he completely finished. “Thank you.” She said honestly and he nodded, returning her smile. “Why don't you come join us? Carol made us all some dinner.” 

Ava nodded, not one to turn food down, especially not in times like this. Making sure to keep a respectable distance from the group, she gratefully accepted the plate that Carol handed her, and started silently chewing on her food. 

“How's Carl doing?” Dale asked Rick, who nodded absentmindedly. “He's conscious, yet in a lot of pain.” Shane jumped in at that, “Why don't you let Ava have a look at it tomorrow morning? She sure has magic fingers.” All eyes turned to where Ava sat, who slowly stopped chewing as she awkwardly coughed. “Would you mind?” Rick asked and she shook her head, swallowing the piece she had been chewing on. “Of course not, I'll have a look at it tomorrow, see what I can do.” 

Both Lori and Rick smiled gratefully at her for that, and she returned the smile a bit hesitant. Looking straight in front of her, she saw Daryl sitting just as far away from the group as she was, his eyes squinted slightly together and his head cocked slightly to the right.

His eyes were deeply focused on her, and she could feel her cheeks burning up as she was starting to grow rather uncomfortable under his stare. It was like his eyes were piercing right through her – and the intensity almost became too much. Hurrying her food inside, she excused herself from the rest and quickly left the campfire, feeling the lingering burn from his stare on her back as she hurried over to her tent, glad to disappear into it.

What was it about him that made her feel so uncomfortable, yet left her so intrigued? Daryl was a person she couldn't quite get a grasp on. And she doubted she would any time soon. Yet, she was determined to figure him out. All she had to do first was learn not to cower away under his stare. Yeah, that sure was going to be a challenge.


End file.
